The Loss of a Love
by mrmistyeye
Summary: When Jay is admitted to hospital for a sudden 'minor' heart problem, the rest of the family didn't even think about the after effects of the event on their lives.
1. Chapter 1

**Claire's POV:**

It was strange how fast it happened.

It was roughly 6pm, and we were sitting out by the pool with the family when Dad said that he didn't feel quite right. Manny rushed inside to get him some water, and within the next three minutes he had collapsed and the ambulance had been called for - nobody expected anything from it. I, for one, have had minor heart problems for years, and they've always seemed like something bigger than they turned out to be. Maybe that's why we were all so calm around Dad when it happened. We assumed that my heart problems had been passed down genetically, and from his history of smoking and drinking it was really to be expected.

We couldn't all fit in the ambulance, so Gloria, Mitchell and I went while Phil and Cam stayed at the house with the kids. The medics were running tests on him while we were in there (which, needless to say, didn't make him feel any better about the situation), but I found it really interesting to learn about the supplies which they used. Anyway - this isn't about that. This is about what happened once we got to the hospital.

**Cam's POV:**

"EVERYBODY STAY CALM!" I screeched across the garden after the ambulance left. The kids climbed out of the water and sat around the pool with towels around their shoulders - Phil remarked that the air was getting colder and, as I agreed, we decided to go inside the house and watch some TV until Claire called from the hospital. Although I did understand why only Jay's children and Gloria had gone with him in the ambulance, I couldn't stop worrying about his situation and I wished that I could have gone too.

Claire called at around 7.15pm.

"Hello?"

"Cam? It's Claire."

"How's Jay? It's been over an hour since you left and -"

"We don't honestly know yet, but the doctors don't think that it looks good. Maybe you and Phil should bring the kids over, in case they do need to say goodbye." She stifled a little sob with a cough. "See you soon."


	2. Chapter 2

**Gloria's POV:**

Waiting around at the hospital was painful. No, worse than just _painful_...I don't know the word for it in English - excruciating. Yes, excruciatingly painful. Seeing Jay be like that is the worst feeling in the world. Anybody would feel like that though, when their loved ones are going through something that causes them sadness. When Cam, Phil and the kids arrived, I had the worst feeling that Jay wasn't going to make it. I mean, I hadn't been sure before either, but the fact that the rest of the family had come too even when we told them to stay at the house? No, Claire must have called them to tell them the news. Ahh, I should have guessed that she hadn't left the room to 'see a nurse'.

I was happy to see them there, of course, but I was also aware that it couldn't end well. Whenever the whole family is together, there are always arguments about little things. It was certain to happen now. I was sure of it. Absolutely sure - but nothing did happen. Everybody was calm and peaceful and at ease for the entire time. When it came to Jay's last few moments of life, the rest of the family left while Claire, Mitchell and I stayed in the room to say our last goodbyes.

**Mitchell's POV:**

Dad and I were never close at all. He was always willing me to be somebody I wasn't...a proper _boy_ like him. I was disappointing, and I know that, but how can I change my entire personality for somebody who won't be standing over me for my entire life? That's what I used to say to myself, but I don't think it ever quite hit me that Dad actually _wouldn't_ be around forever. It's hard to imagine how your life would be without one particular person, especially if they're somebody who you see a lot, maybe every week, or even every day - so that makes it extra hard to leave them and to carry on.

Dad could hardly speak when he had to say goodbye to us. Honestly? It was scary. I'd never seen him like that before, and I'd always imagined that I never would do. I'm not sure that I want to say all of the details of that last conversation, because it's part of our history now that nobody else should feel the need to know, but I will say that suddenly, my Dad seemed to understand me. He apologized for every bad thing that he had done in the past, and by the time he was wheeled out of the room on his gurney, I was content and happy with life. Apart from the fact that my Dad was going to die, of course.

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**A/N**

Hey guys!  
If you've been following me or my stories for a long time, then you'll know that I do pretty random bursts of updates - sometimes I'll update a fic every day for a month, then I'll take another five months until the next update...I just try to fit it in whenever I have the time.  
Anyway, it's exam season at the moment (at my school, anyway), so I may take even longer to update my fics than I usually would. Sorry.  
Good news, though, is that after exams its the SUMMER HOLIDAYS! Basically this means that on days when I'm not busy, I'll try to spend as much time on here as humanly possible.  
In other news, you may notice that I've changed my username from 'carcrashedheart' to 'mrmistyeye'. I did this because 'carcrashedheart' was a Fall Out Boy reference, and I'm not so much into them anymore as I am into a band called Twenty One Pilots - hence the name 'mrmistyeye', after a line in one of their songs. I think I might change it back at some point, but I was just feeling the need for a change.

Sorry this chapter was quite short, but I'm trying to save my work because the next chapter is gonna be a longer one. I promise.

mrmistyeye x


	3. Chapter 3

**Alex's POV:**

It was strange, seeing grandpa look so weak. He's always been strong, a man to never show any hint of failure - except now. In his last moments, he finally gave in to what he had always fought, which, even though it was to be expected, surprised me. I spoke to mum about it afterwards. Her feelings about the whole thing and how she reacted...she spoke very little, but got her point across very well. I think that she felt the same as we all did, really, upset and a bit shaken up. Nobody expected it to actually happen.

It's been a month now, and as people kept telling us - we have managed to move on. I think that it was harder for a family that is as tight-knit as ours, as going to grandpa and Gloria's house now seems a bit odd, especially as we are no longer blood related to either Gloria or Manny - if it weren't for Joe, I wonder if we'd still be visiting at all.

**Phil's POV:**

Jay never really took to me. I tried my best to make him like me, but all I learned is that you can't force somebody to do that (unless you fix their printer for them. That one's a winner).

After he died, nobody spoke for a long time. I know that I wasn't directly related and so it wouldn't effect me as badly as it would to people like Claire, Mitchell and Gloria, but still, I felt their pain. Claire and Mitchell have lost their dad, and they don't really get along with their mom, so this was basically the end of their parents in Claire's mind at least. Gloria had lost her husband and the father to her son, and I can't imagine how that must feel.

I tried to comfort Claire as best as I could afterwards, but she refused most of the help that I offered, so in the end I thought that it would be best to leave her alone for a while. However, after the first few days, she completely changed.

**Claire's POV:**

"What's up, sport!" I said brightly, holding my hand up for a high-five from Luke as I bounded down the stairs. He didn't hold his hand up back, just looked at me and tilted his head slightly to the side as if I was going mad. Maybe I am. I carried on walking as I heard Luke sigh, too deep in my own thoughts now to look back.

Maybe everybody else is right. Maybe I am having a strange reaction to this - but then, what reaction do they want? I've been miserable. I've been sad. Now, I keep trying to lighten the mood and bring some joy to the table when people are feeling down, and people think I'm crazy. Who knows. Sometimes I'm not sure about myself either...I've seen TV shows and movies where people go through emotional trauma, and then turn into a completely different person afterwards as a coping mechanism. That could be me, except I'm not turning into a completely different person. I'm acting as I always have, just in a stranger circumstance, where I clearly should be acting differently...

**Mitchell's POV:**

Mom called after dad died. I don't know how she knew - maybe Gloria told her, or the hospital got her number somehow - but she did. The first thing she asked me was "Are you okay?" which is so unlike my mom that it almost threw me off. It's never about anybody else with her, only herself, so I was understandably surprised when she wanted to focus on me for a bit. I told her the whole story, and the date of the funeral, which she came to and, for once, didn't make a scene. This whole thing seems to have shocked her as much as it has the rest of us, and maybe it acted as a bit of a wake-up call to be nicer to other people for a change.

It was a wake-up call for all of us, really. We had the idea that maybe a reason for the heart attack was his history of drinking and smoking, which made some of us cut down on our alcohol consumption immediately. I think that, overall, that was a positive effect of this - after all, it could have gone the complete other way, and we could have ended up drinking far too much.

I would be lying if I said I didn't miss him. It makes me sad especially for Lily, who will no longer have her grandpa around. I know that she'll always have Cam's parents, but they live so far away, and we don't tend to see them as much. They came over for the funeral though, which was thoughtful of them. I don't usually like seeing his family as they tend to bring out the farming side of Cam, but it was nice and supportive to have them there after it all. If I'm honest, although I was sad - and don't get me wrong, I still am - I was a little bit relieved as well? I haven't told anybody else this, but not having dad here has also allowed me to feel more free. I feel like I can finally do things that I wouldn't do before, stresses are no longer there, and it feels as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I feel bad saying this though, because of course, I am sad. I am terribly sad. But also, a little not.

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**A/N: Hello, long time no see! Sorry for the amount of time that I haven't been active - I've been extremely busy with schoolwork and revision and I haven't really had the time, although I do hope to be returning to writing more fanfics soon. Also, (cons of living in the UK) we still haven't got the new series of Modern Family yet! I'm hoping that there won't be too many drastic changes as otherwise I might have to make some changes.**

**mrmistyeye**


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